Inside Jim Callahan’s Sonoma studio

Life-size sculpture of Gen. Vallejo to be unveiled on June 24|

In 2015, Sonoma artist Jim Callahan was selected by the General Vallejo Monument Committee to create a life-size statue honoring the city’s founder, Gen. Mariano Vallejo. Callahan began work in mid-2016 and, this week, he cast the final bronze pieces of the form.

Callahan has been honored as the Sonoma Treasure Artist of 2000 and given the key to the City of Sonoma for his contributions to the community. He is one of the founders who conceived and implemented the formation of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and is founder and managing partner of the La Haye Art Center. Contained within the La Haye Center is a bronze foundry, which is the heart of Callahan’s own studio. On display throughout the building is his work, which ranges from miniatures to monumental.

Callahan expects to complete the Vallejo monument early next month, just in time for its installation on “Pueblo Day,” Saturday, June 24.

A section of Sonoma’s Plaza, in the center of the northern fringe, has been fenced off and is being prepped for the piece.

General Vallejo will sit on a park bench facing his former home.

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